Incarnadine
by Salina M L
Summary: [InuKag, MirSan] In the moment of a heated fight, he hadn’t taken it into account at just how hard he might have been holding her. His own hands had wounded her once before and could do so again. Oneshot.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own InuYasha, neither do I intend nor expect any profit from this work other than the pleasure of writing and sharing it.

… blah blah blah.

This will only contain spoilers from the second movie and episode 52, and was inspired by the fact that since the events that occurred, the famous hanyou seemed to have given up on becoming a full-fledged demon.

* * *

**Incarnadine**

**By Salina M L**

* * *

Since the moment their separate paths intertwined, Inuyasha and Kagome always fought. There would inevitably be some sort of confrontation caused by two massive egos colliding. Which led to a screaming fit that shook the feeble foundations of any location they were currently residing in. Which was abruptly put to an end with several of Kagome's sit commands followed by her storming out. 

Moreover, they were constantly at each others' throats for complicated issues _and_ trivial ones. They both spat insults, threw dirty looks and acted immature in general. Well, it seemed that only Inuyasha ever brought out that ugly side of Kagome, who to everyone else was cheerful and always pleasant to be around. One thing was for certain though, none of their tiffs _ever_ became physical. The closest any one of their spurts came to was the usual… 'osuwari.'

Even in the beginning when Kagome had broken the fifty-year-old seal, Inuyasha had attacked her for possession of the sacred jewel. Yet she had never feared him even for a moment. In fact, despite his peculiar appearance that would have been a cause for alarm to most people, the good old Higurashi temper had flared up and she had put him in his place. Which left him clearly baffled since no human had ever talked down to him like that. Since that time, she was able to keep him in line. Mostly thanks to the beads of subjugation of course.

Despite the fact that they loathed the very sight of each other for awhile, Inuyasha was obligated to protect her so she would be able to track down the sacred jewel shards. His one and only excuse when people saw them together was that she was just a 'jewel detector.'

He would always fall back on that line.

If the truth be told though, he _did_ protect her since the start of their journey with his own two hands, and gradually, the act started becoming natural. In the face of battle, he would instinctively pull her behind him or push her back out of harm's way. However, in the moment of a heated fight, he hadn't taken it into account at just how hard he might have been gripping her. When his emotions got the better of him and he lost control of himself…

* * *

The day before yesterday, the group had returned to Kaede's village to rest and recuperate after their last battle in the void beyond the looking glass, much to Inuyasha's displeasure. But to piss him off even more, Kagome had gone back home without even telling him _again_. 

As for the others, a verbal message passed from pilgrim to peddler to farmer and finally to Miroku, stating that his master, Mushin had fallen ill and needed the aid of his old student. Sango, of course, thought that it was strangely suspicious because since when did that drunk old man even think of Miroku unless he was two feet in front of him? So after a minimal amount of convincing, she accompanied him along with Hachi, who had also come back with them to the village. Leaving Shippo, Myoga and Kirara with Kaede, along with Inuyasha who was otherwise sulking by the well.

The next day at sunset, Kagome still had not returned, yet strangely Inuyasha's mind was elsewhere. It had been almost been a moon since he had once again almost completely lost himself to his full youkai blood.

He could still remember the sickening twist he felt when Kagome had left Kaede's hut with her arms taped up in the places where his own claws had sunk into her flesh. He had stared at the bandages for what must have been five minutes, before finally muttering a rare apology. Before then, he had never brought it up or apologized at the time. His mind was unconsciously forcing him to block it out and pretend it never happened, but he couldn't ignore it when the evidence was as clear as daylight.

"You weren't yourself, Inuyasha." She had said to him, accompanied by her bright and cheery smile which made his insides and his mind calm.

Still, the scent of her blood had been imbedded in his claws for days afterwards. He had left her side one night in search of a stream his nose had picked up on earlier, and for the next few hours, tried desperately to wash away the scent of her blood from his hands. It wasn't just human blood like the last time he had transformed and slaughtered an entire group of bandits. Even that had left him shaken up. This time it was _her _blood on his hands. It was _her_ blood that he himself had drawn out of her porcelain skin. On top of that, no matter how hard he tried he couldn't get the scent out. Maybe it had just been mind over matter, but his senses were telling him otherwise. His hands that he used to protect her had injured her more than most of their sworn enemies…

Pulling himself to his feet with a slight growl he turned around and in a red blur leapt into the well before being engulfed by the vortex binding the two separate times.

Inuyasha stood at the bottom, looking up the shaft to the ceiling of the well house. Better get this done and over with, but for some reason he was hesitant to disturb her this time. He crouched down slightly and leapt to the top of the well and walked slowly up the steps, the only sound around was the light swish his loose garbs made as he reached out placing his hand on the door of the shrine before sliding it open roughly, making enough noise to wake the dead, bringing him forth into a world that was so unlike his own and foreign to him.

His eyes briefly caught sight of the old god tree, vaguely aware of the tendrils of power that itched his way, making their presence known. Why was it that he never noticed this before? Kagome would always take time to gaze at it and would tell him that she always felt at peace in its presence, like it opened her heart. Of course he had scoffed and told her it was stupid.

A light gust of wind worked its way through the sleeves of his haori reminding him of why he had come there in the first place, and the plentiful amount of sit commands he would inevitably receive for coming in the first place. Still he never gave a damn before and he sure as hell wasn't going to back down now. So he leapt to the second level of her house and entered her room through the open window prepared for the screaming and yelling that would without a doubt follow suit.

As if on cue, she came waltzing in with an armful of precariously stacked textbooks which she quickly set down on an end table upon seeing him casually leaning against the wall across from her bed with his arms folded neatly inside his crimson haori. She was wearing pyjama pants along with a powder blue tank top which exposed her arms. He grimaced upon seeing the four scars along each side of her forearms along with a dark bruise on the fronts where his thumbs had been pressed. But there was something else…

Kagome let out an exasperated sigh and gritted her teeth. "Inuyasha, I want to visit my family for awhile and I'm _way_ behind in my studies. _Please_, just give me one more day-"

"Kagome."

Inuyasha reached out with one hand and grabbed onto her arm as she was on her way out the door. It wasn't that he was there to force her back to the Sengoku Jidai and continue their quest. In fact, for once the jewel shards and everything else had been pushed to the back of his mind. It was the red streak he had spotted on her arm that caught his attention…

Kagome turned fully to him, slightly puzzled at his uncharacteristic behaviour, but jumped when he gave a sudden gasp that could have almost been mistaken for a cry.

Still holding her arm, his amber eyes traced the surface of her skin. On a few areas were some scratches that looked faded and had been there for some time. Then there was one on her wrist that was situated so perfectly it jogged his memory. That was always the place where his thumb would be when he grabbed her wrist to draw her behind him or pull her along when they had to move quickly.

It was all too clear to him now.

Overwhelming panic coursed through his body as he quickly released her arm at the chance that he might have just done it again, the fact that he had never known he caused her such injuries, and even though their pointless arguments never exceeded from verbal they might as well have. She certainly looked like they had.

There were times when he had the odd scrape and bruise from where he'd hit the ground from past sit commands, until the effects of him being a half demon would heal him instantaneously, but Kagome's arms had been unknowingly covered in wounds. None of them had noticed the marks since Kagome's arms were always covered by the long sleeves of her strange modern day 'kimono.'

He breathed out a long, quivering breath. "I'm sorry, Kagome." He said so quietly she wasn't sure if she heard correctly.

Kagome blinked a few times and finally glanced down at her arms to see what he had been looking at and let out a small yelp. She had completely forgotten about those things. She hadn't been expecting him of course, so she didn't think to cover up her arms. She knew it was an accident and never once paid any mind to the unintentional wounds.

It had barely even been one month since it happened and he had been acting strangely ever since. She had only been back home for a few days and although he had been pissed off when she left, he hadn't made as a big a deal about it as he notoriously could have.

She laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her head. "Oh, don't worry about a thing, Inuyasha. I just bruise easily, that's all."

He knew she was lying to him. After countless battles with demons and falling onto the ground from tripping over her own feet, after all she was a total klutz, her skin had become as easy to bruise as a sheet of steel. His heart sank at the realization of how hard he would've had to grab her to cause her such horrible wounds.

The expression on Kagome's face fell to deep concern when he didn't even scoff. She reached out to him only to have him back a few steps away from her and bow his head. Like a change of heart, his appearance changed from a fierce warrior to a frightened pup.

His touch had wounded her once and could do so again.

Kagome lowered her hand and gazed back into his strangely fearful eyes that had now become wide and blank. It was hard enough for him to find the balance of being a human and a demon, she wasn't going to let something that was so trivial, in her mind, upset him.

"I was scared." She suddenly spoke up.

Inuyasha's head snapped up, though he refused to meet her gaze.

"I always am…" She continued. "When your demon side takes over and I feel that you're beyond my reach and can't hear my voice anymore…"

Inuyasha raised a perfectly curved eyebrow. This wasn't even about the marks _he _of all people had inflicted upon her? She didn't even seem fazed by the fact that her skin was covered in abrasions.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he finally locked eyes with her. "Me too." He admitted for the first time in his life. He knew he should probably shut his mouth before he stupidly revealed everything to her, but his famous tendency of running his mouth was making itself known on the spot. "The only thing I had wanted for so long was right there in front of me. I was handed the opportunity and I took it without a second thought. I didn't think that anything would change my mind… but it all stopped when I… heard your voice… and w-what you did…"

Kagome instantly blushed about five shades of pink. "W-well, I couldn't let you go through with it. I knew that if I talked to you, it would stop. I trusted that you wouldn't ever hurt me…"

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes. "Kagome, I ain't completely stupid, you know! I have no control over what happens when I become a full demon. I might've not just hurt you, I could've KILLED YOU!" Despite the fact that his expression was menacing, she showed no signs of fear and just gazed back at him with a serene smile. Actually, she never did fear him, he realized.

"Exactly." She stated plainly. Inuyasha looked at her oddly, his eyes asking, no, his eyes demanding that she elaborate, due to his already foul mood. "You have absolutely no control over your actions…" She continued softly. "So you weren't yourself. The real you has changed, Inuyasha, and you don't even realize it. You talk tough, but you're really just a big softy on the inside."

At this, Inuyasha muttered an inaudible stream of profanities causing her to chuckle. "So what's your point?!" He finally spat.

Kagome finished off her final giggles before answering. "My point is that you never meant to hurt me and you shouldn't act like it's such a big deal."

Inuyasha's mouth fell agape. For once, he was speechless. In the past, he had sworn that anyone who had ever even lay a finger on her let alone actually hurt her would have been ripped apart to their primitive organs.

Maybe it had been better that he had left it alone, instead of being faced with the reality that he couldn't ever be 'normal.' Then again, talking about it had actually left him feeling… content.

He stepped forward and let his thumb brush gently over the marks. He took her hands gently, bringing them up to his face for a closer look at her wrists once more. She didn't move, she didn't even make a sound as he scrutinized the injuries, feeling that it was best for him to come to terms with it if she let him examine them.

In the midst of the action, he briefly remembered the fear he would feel when Kagome was in any form of danger. A feeling that was always quickly replaced by rage. How dare anyone jeopardize her life? Right in front of him yet!

He paused over her shoulder. She might 'sit' him for what he was about to do, but he couldn't stop himself. He dipped down towards Kagome's forearm and as softly as he could, kissed the deepest scar. He felt her muscles tense, but she didn't back away from him. Without hesitation and giving her a chance to snap out of it and yell the words out of embarrassment, he pulled back and lifted her wrist before leaning in to gently kiss a mark caused by his thumb.

"I'm so sorry, Kagome." He repeated. Easing back, he closed his eyes and released her wrist, awaiting the solitary word he dreaded the most, but knew for once he deserved it.

It never came.

Contrary to what he had been expecting, he felt her smooth and dainty fingers slide across his eyelids and he slowly opened them.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome smiled sweetly, though another pink blush coloured her face. "At least always take this with you; I am with you because I _choose_ to be. It's not obligation because of the jewel shards… and_…_ I meant _every_ word." By the time she finished he knew his eyes had widened like before and was also aware that his own face had begun to burn, knowing exactly which words she meant.

He did hurt her, something he couldn't deny, but no matter what, Kagome always forgave him. She had understood something he had constantly failed to grasp since he had first discovered the truth behind her injuries. It was not truly him who did it. Therefore it wasn't intentional, and he never meant it. Deep inside, he didn't believe it was an excuse, but it was good enough for her. Maybe one day it would be good enough for him, and he would be able to truly cope with being a half-demon…

Just maybe.

It was late by this point and Kagome stretched her arms but covered her mouth as she yawned before announcing that she was going to bed. She didn't make any sound or gesture suggesting that he should vacate her room, so he watched her carefully and a bit suspiciously as she walked over to her bed and slid under the covers.

As she drifted off to sleep he walked over and lay down beside her on the floor, and eventually succumbed to sleep in a quiet, peaceful and undisturbed manner. One of which he only seemed to be able to obtain when he was with Kagome in her time. There he dreamed of a place where they were still together, his eyes never bled crimson, and her skin was as unmarred as the time before they met.

**The End**

* * *

I hope everyone enjoyed this random idea. This is my first one-shot on this site so I hope it was all right. 

Please Review!


End file.
